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India's T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Mumbai Indians (MI) side in the franchise's opening clash of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign against the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings on Sunday in the absence of regular skipper Hardik Pandya.
Hardik received a one-match ban after the team's last encounter in IPL 2024 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for maintaining a slow over-rate. This was the third time in the league that the 31-year-old player had been penalised with a one-match ban and a fine of Rs. 30 lakh. Speaking at the press conference in Mumbai, the T20 World Cup winner said that he knew that the last over bowled was delayed by almost two minutes. He went on to say that bowling overs at times is not his hands. "That is out of my control. Last year what occurred is part of the sport. We bowled the last over one-and-a-half or two minutes late. At that point, I didn't know the consequences," the Gujarat-born cricketer said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. Further, the Champions Trophy winner said that in his absence, right-hand batter Suryakumar Yadav is the "ideal choice" to lead the team. "It is unfortunate, but the rules say it. I will have to go with the process. Next season, if they continue or not continue [with this rule], I think that is on the higher authorities. They can definitely see what best can be done. Surya, obviously, leads India [in T20Is] as well. When I'm not there, he is the ideal choice in this format," the all-rounder added. Mumbai Indians on Wednesday took to their official social media handle and confirmed that Suryakumar Yadav will lead the five-time champions in their opening game of the 18th edition of the cash-rich league against CSK, which will be played on Sunday, March 23, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. "SKY (CAPTAIN) for our opening match vs CSK," Mumbai Indians wrote in a post on X. https://x.com/mipaltan/status/1902262587284439525. MI IPL 2025 Squad: Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult (Rs. 12.50 crore), Naman Dhir (Rs. 5.25 crore), Robin Minz (Rs. 65 lakh), Karn Sharma (Rs. 50 lakh), Ryan Rickelton (Rs. 1 crore), Deepak Chahar (Rs. 9.25 crore), Mujjeb Ur Rehman, Will Jacks (Rs. 5.25 crore), Ashwani Kumar (Rs. 30 lakh), Mitchell Santner (Rs. 2 crore), Reece Topley (Rs. 75 lakh), Krishnan Shrijith (Rs. 30 lakh), Raj Angad Bawa (Rs. 30 lakh), Satyanarayana Raju (Rs. 30 lakh), Bevon Jacobs (Rs. 30 lakh), Arjun Tendulkar (Rs. 30 lakh), Lizaad Williams (Rs. 75 lakh), Vignesh Puthur (Rs. 30 lakh). (ANI)
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